China starts building world's largest fully steerable radio telescope

A 120-meter diameter radio telescope is under construction in China and, once built, will be the world’s largest fully steerable device of its kind, according to the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS).

The purpose of the telescope is to help scientists better understand planets and asteroids, according to CAS.

The ‘scope will receive electromagnetic waves from celestial bodies and send its own energy into the heavens to allow accurate measurement of distances Earth and other planets.

Other radio telescopes with this capability include the defunct Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, and The Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico.

According to CAS, the radio telescope's site in northeast China's Huadian, Jilin was chosen back in May, and preliminary work has already begun. Part of its foundations have been completed and the installation, adjustment and testing of the telescope are expected ...